


A Glint of Hope

by theythinktheyknow



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Hopeful Ending, Legit just me being so sad, M/M, Sad, im so sorry this doesn’t help anyone, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-14
Updated: 2019-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-18 03:34:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20632418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theythinktheyknow/pseuds/theythinktheyknow
Summary: Richie can’t leave until he finds something important.





	A Glint of Hope

**Author's Note:**

> This isn’t very good or very long, it’s just something I kind of felt I had to put out there. Because I don’t think Rich could just leave Derry behind without some closure first. 
> 
> Also this is just a weird mix of the Book and the Movies, because I don’t think Eds wears his ring in the movie... it’ll still make sense if you’ve never read the book though. 
> 
> In conclusion: I am so sad, so very very sad.
> 
> Oh also this dumbass site hates italics, so there’s quotes from the book in here that should be italicized but aren’t, it’s a whole ass mess I’m sorry.

Richie knows he needs to leave this town. 

He knows there’s nothing left for him, now that the others are leaving too. He knows that if he had any sense in him he’d get in his car and just drive, drive away and never, ever come back. And he almost does. He gets as far as the kissing bridge, but something in his head makes him put on the brakes, makes him turn around, brings him here. 

The house on Neibolt street, well, the hole on Neibolt street, is deserted when his tires crunch over the bits of debris, broken glass and pieces of wood; the lonely remains of a monument which once stood so tall and menacing to a twelve year old Richie Tozier. 

He still doesn’t know what he’s doing, why he’s here, again, when he should be getting as far away from this place as he possibly can. 

But then he steps out of his car, leaving his headlights on to brighten up the darkness of the wreckage. He stumbles over to the remnants of the front stairs, to where, if you crouch down low, you can see the frame of the basement window. The window where, 27 years prior, seven kids had crawled in, unknowingly sealing their fate for the rest of their lives. 

Richie reaches out a shaking hand and touches the broken wood, his knees pressed up tight against his chest. It’s too much, far too much. He stands up abruptly, taking off his glasses and wiping them on his jacket. Old habits die hard. 

He walks slowly around the perimeter of the hole, his eyes searching for something. He honestly doesn’t know what. Just something. 

_That’s a lie. You know what you want to find. You know what you can’t leave without. ___

_ _He shakes his head. He continues his slow walk, his eyes scanning faster now, straining even with the headlights’ help. It’s so dark down there, too—_dark. You know . . . It’s too dark. Eds, he _. . . He’s down there. Richies eyes sting at the thought, his breath catching in his chest, a sob just barely suppressed. He moved faster yet, dropping to his knees and shuffling along right at the edge of the hole. He needs to find it, can’t leave until he finds it, cant possibly leave without it. He doesn’t even know how the fuck it would be up here, instead of down there, where he knew they’d left him. But he’s frantic now, on his hands and knees, practically crawling into the hole itself, precariously teetering on the precipice of death himself. ___ _

_ _ _ _He sees the glint, winking in his blurry vision, his tears falling all around him in great globs of wetness, collecting on the dirt and on his sweatshirt. He reaches out his arm, stretches it as far as he can. It’s so close, so close, so— his fingers grasp it, finally. Another sob falls from his mouth as he holds the ring up in the light, the small, metallic ring that used to be worn by a small, courageous boy. Eddie’s pinky ring. Richie smiles a broken smile, clutching the tiny piece so tightly. His head dips down and he screams. It’s an ugly, horribly scream. It sounds like the deepest sort of heart ache a human can possibly feel. It’s the sound of a man who’s heart is no longer whole, because the biggest piece, the piece that made it a whole heart, is dead, buried under centuries of grief and sorrow and fear and pain. Snot runs down his face, mixing with his tears, salty and disgusting when it reaches his mouth, and he cries harder, because he has no one to call him gross, to tell him that he’s gonna get some sort of fucking disease if he doesn’t stop crying soon. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _He brings the ring to his mouth, kissing it gently. It tastes like blood. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _He slips it onto his smallest finger. It’s a tight fit, barely getting past his knuckles. Once it’s on he looks at it for a long, long time, sitting in the dirt, his legs spread out in front of him. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _He thinks of Eddie. He’s stopped sobbing now, his tears coming slower, his breath hiccuping every once in a while. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _He thinks of Eddie, and his heart continues to hurt. _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _He thinks of Eddie, and he promises himself that he won’t forget. He doesn’t know if the magic of Derry will still work, now that It’s gone. But even if it tries its hardest to make him forget, he won’t. He’ll remember Eddie, the bravest man he’s ever know. He’ll remember the sound of his laughter, the sound of his bickering, the sound of his aspirator. He’ll remember the boy he loved first, the feeling that had hit him like a truck at age twelve. He’ll remember the first time he caught himself staring at his best friend, from across the clubhouse, and the feelings of fear but also excitement that came along. The way that Eddie would walk Richie home almost every night that summer, just to make sure he got there safe. He would remember the good times, the absolute fucking best times of his life, with Eddie. He would remember the worst times, too, when it had seemed that his world was falling apart at every single seam, every seam except for Eddie. Eddie had remained strong, had remained brave, had remained the _ love of his life _ ! Had _ remained _ !_____ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _Richie opens his eyes, promising he’ll remember all of this until the day he dies. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _And then he stands up, taking the only piece of Eddie he could find with him. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _He doesn’t know if it will be enough, he’s almost certain it won’t be. But it’s all he has. And he won’t forget. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _He gets in his car and he drives out of Derry, leaving the darkness there in the hole, with the glinting, precious ring of hope stuck tight around his pinky finger._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


End file.
